Ascension Island

Lord Ashcroft: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the cost to the United Kingdom of the administration of Ascension Island.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The governor of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha is based on St Helena. The governor is represented on Ascension Island by an administrator. Both posts are Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) funded. The running costs in 2011-12 for the administrator and the pro rata costs of the governor were approximately £72,700. The costs of the administrator's house and office are met by the Ascension Island Government.
	The Ascension Island Government are eligible to access the FCO's Strategic Programme Fund and the Overseas Territories Environmental Project Fund. The island received £78.590 from these funds last year. The administrator also receives a small annual delegated budget of around £25,000.
	Ascension Island is not in receipt of any direct bilateral capital grants, subsidies or budgetary aid from the Department for International Development.

Bank of England

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Sassoon on 24 October (WA 61), whether they have received a request from the Bank of England to increase the current ceiling on eligible private sector assets qualifying for the Asset Purchase Facility; and whether they will increase that ceiling to enhance the flow of credit to business.

Lord Sassoon: The Bank of England remains able to purchase private sector assets, through the Asset Purchase Facility, financed by the issuance of central bank reserves, Treasury Bills and the Debt Management Office cash management operations, up to a ceiling of £10 billion as set out in the letter from the Chancellor to the Governor of the Bank on 29 November 2011.

Banks: Green Investment Bank

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by Lord Marland on 30 October (WS 51) concerning the Green Investment Bank, why they needed the approval of the European Commission to commence operation of the bank; and what would have been the consequences if the Commission's approval had not been given.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The European Commission must approve all state subsidies provided by member states. In assessing the Green Investment Bank case, the European Commission had to satisfy itself that the impact of the measure on competition in relevant markets was justified by its contribution to achieving green policy objectives.
	Without state aid approval the bank would not have been cleared to start making investments. Had the bank made investments without receipt of the Commission's approval, there would have been a high risk that the Commission would order the investments to be unwound.

Burma

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the conditions under which members of the National League for Democracy in Burma operate.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: We welcome the increasing political space in Burma as a result of the reform process taking place. While there are many challenges ahead, not least the recent outbreaks of intercommunal violence in Rakhine State, reforms to date have led to more active participation by political parties, including by the National League for Democracy (NLD), in Burmese politics. Following the registration of the NLD as a political party in November 2011, the NLD contested by-elections in April 2012. These by-elections were considered by most to have been largely free and fair, with the NLD winning 43 seats of the 44 they contested.
	Members of the NLD, including Aung San Suu Kyi, are now playing an active and constructive role in Burma's Parliament. The NLD is in the process of opening offices across the country and plans to hold a party conference in the coming months. Officials at our embassy in Rangoon, including our ambassador, regularly meet Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior NLD members.

Children: Nutritional Guidance

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government what nutritional guidance for babies and very young children is given to care providers who are covered by the Early Years Framework Strategy.

Lord Hill of Oareford: The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets quality standards for learning and care for all settings looking after children aged birth to five. This makes clear that where children are provided with a meal, snacks and drinks, these must be healthy, balanced and nutritious. It is up to providers to decide how they meet these legal requirements. Voluntary guidelines produced by the Children's Food Trust (formerly the School Food Trust) called Eat Better, Start Better, designed to support the EYFS, offers a range of information on diet and nutrition for children aged one to five.
	Advice applying to babies under the age of one year-including infant feeding, complementary feeding and diversification of the infant diet-is provided to parents and carers by the Department of Health. This advice is available via several routes, including the NHS Choices website, Start4Life materials and the new NHS Information Service for Parents.

Crime: Domestic Violence

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty's Government what actions they are prioritising to assist local multi-agency service providers, including general practitioners, schools, police forces and social services, in detection and prevention of domestic violence against women and girls.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government's Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls: Action Plan sets out the actions we are prioritising to tackle all forms of violence against women and girls. This includes ring-fencing funding of nearly £40 million until 2015 for specialist local domestic and sexual violence support services, rape support centres, the national domestic violence helplines and the stalking helpline services.
	Funding has been provided towards 54 multi-agency risk assessment conference (MARAC) co-ordinator posts and 144 independent domestic violence adviser (IDVA) posts. There are now MARACs in over 250 areas across England and Wales and funding has been granted to support and develop MARACS as well as towards training for IDVAs.

Education: State Schools

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the future role of local authorities in the control and supervision of state schools in the United Kingdom.

Lord Hill of Oareford: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education is responsible for schools in England only. Local authorities' duties in relation to state schools are set out in statute.
	We continue to work with schools and local authorities to ensure that decisions are taken locally which are in the best interests of children and that those taking the decisions are accountable for them.

Employment: Under-25s

Baroness Sherlock: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) wage incentives payments of £2,275 to employers who take on young people from the Work Programme, (2) apprenticeship grants of £1,500 for employers of 16-24 year olds, and (3) payments of £2,200 to employers who take on 16 and 17 year-olds who are not in education, employment or training and who have no A*-C GCSE grades, have been made to employers since the launch of the Youth Contract in April 2012; and when they plan to publish that information.

Lord Freud: (1) Following the collection and quality assurance of these data, the first set of official statistics on the wage incentive should be available from early 2013.
	(2) Provisional data show that between 1 February and 11 June 2012, there were 2,300 apprenticeship starts for which a payment was made through the AGE 16-24 scheme.
	(3) Delivery of the Youth Contract programme for 16 and 17 year-olds began in September 2012. The first set of data for delivery of the programme will be published at the end of the 2012-13 financial year. Thereafter, the data will be updated and published every six months.

EU: UK Membership

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what responses they have received from the Government of Germany, and others in that country, following the speech on the United Kingdom's role in the European Union made by the Foreign Secretary at the Korber Foundation in Berlin on 23 October.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: During his visit to Berlin on 23 October, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right honourable friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), discussed the issues raised in his speech with Foreign Minister Westerwelle, Christian Democratic Union parliamentary leader Volker Kauder and Chancellery Minister Ronald Pofalla. All welcomed the UK's commitment to continue to play an active role in the EU and recognised the broad overlap in UK and German positions on a range of European issues, including the single market, trade and EU enlargement. The speech was widely covered in the media in the UK, Germany and elsewhere.

EU: UK Membership

Lord Hunt of Chesterton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on United Kingdom businesses and agriculture of statements by Government Ministers that the United Kingdom should consider leaving the European Union.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Government maintain the view that continued membership of the EU is in the best interests of the UK. Access to the single market, for example, provides UK-based businesses with tariff-free access to a market of around 500 million customers and worth £11 trillion in 2011. Membership of the EU also provides the UK with greater negotiating power through at a global level when, for example, negotiating free trade agreements with third-party nations.
	The coalition agreement makes clear that shifting more powers from Britain to the EU is not something this Government support. The Balance of Competences Review announced by the Foreign Secretary earlier this year will provide a better understanding of what role the EU currently has, and the implications for the UK.

Finance: Rehypothecating Securities

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will review or restrict the practice of rehypothecating securities collateral by firms regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Lord Sassoon: The issue of rehypothecation is international in its scope. Work is being taken forward in a number of international fora, such as the Financial Stability Board, and in the EU as part of the proposed revision of the markets in financial instruments directive. The Government will consider this issue, in the round, as these efforts progress.

Flooding

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of flood prevention measures in the United Kingdom, in the light of the effects of Hurricane Sandy on the east coast of the United States.

Lord De Mauley: The Environment Agency has not undertaken any assessment of flood prevention measures in the United Kingdom as a result of Hurricane Sandy. However, the Environment Agency has an ongoing process to ensure it is prepared for the impacts of bad weather.
	The Environment Agency routinely inspects the condition of its flood defences. Over 98.5% of its assets in the highest-risk systems are at their required condition. When their flood defences were tested in 2007 and 2009, 99.8% of the flood defences tested performed as designed.
	A review of our preparedness for a coastal flooding event is already under way and will report in March. In addition, Defra supports the development at a local level of tidal flooding emergencies through its sponsorship of the East Coast Flood Group, which is lead by local resilience forum representatives.

Flooding

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of flood defences in London.

Lord De Mauley: The Environment Agency carries out detailed condition surveying and modelling assessments both for rivers and for the sea. The Environment Agency does this to understand the potential likelihood and consequences of flooding in London. These assessments drive an annual programme of maintenance, repair and improvement.
	The most significant risk of flooding in London is from the sea. The Thames tidal defences are a world-class system providing a one in 1,000 standard of protection to London. This means that in any given year there is a 0.01% probability of flooding from the sea. The Environment Agency assesses the condition of London's tidal flood defences at least twice annually. The Thames Barrier is assessed monthly during a test closure.
	Through the Thames Estuary 2100 project, the Environment Agency has considered how tidal flood risk is increasing in the Thames estuary due to ageing flood defence structures, climate change and sea level rise, as well as more people living and working within the floodplain. The resulting plan describes the strategic direction for managing flood risk across the estuary until 2100.
	The project carried out over 300 studies which found that, subject to continued investment and monitoring, the current flood defences will provide the required standard of protection until 2070.

Forestry Commission

Lord Fearn: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many persons are currently employed by the Forestry Commission.

Lord De Mauley: At the end of September the Forestry Commission, as a cross-border non-ministerial department for England, Scotland and Wales, employed 2,861 people in both full and part-time positions.

Gaza

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the Government of Israel concerning the Prime Minister of Israel's recent statement that the blockade of Gaza is in accordance with international law.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: We have not raised the Prime Minister of Israel's recent statement with the Israeli authorities. In close co-ordination with our EU partners and the Office of the Quartet Representation, we continue to press the Israeli Government at ministerial and official level to ease access restrictions to and from Gaza. We also continue to underline our view that the current situation is counterproductive.
	Any actions Israel takes in respect of the Occupied Territories, including Gaza, must be in accordance with its obligations under international law. Given the degree of control Israel retains over Gaza's borders, airspace and territorial waters, it retains obligations as an occupying power under International Humanitarian Law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.

Ghana

Lord Sheikh: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance they have given to the Government of Ghana to help it meet the United Nations' millennium development goals.

Baroness Northover: The UK Government provide financial and technical support to the Government of Ghana in a range of areas to help Ghana accelerate its progress towards the millennium development goals. Examples include assistance to the Ghanaian Government's national malaria campaign; malaria is the biggest cause of deaths of children under five and a major cause of the death of pregnant women. Last year, UK aid distributed 2.35 million bednets to protect against malaria and help achieve universal national coverage. This year UK aid is providing an additional two million bednets.
	UK aid's programme up to 2015, including the results we will achieve, is outlined in the DfID Ghana Operational Plan 2011-15. These results includes supporting 70,000 girls to stay in school with assistance through both the Ghanaian Government and NGOs, helping the Ghanaian Government to extend their cash grant programme to 100,000 of the poorest people, which will help tackle hunger and malnutrition among other things, and helping 50,000 people to grow their businesses through access to better support and services.

Health: Hospital Visitors

Baroness Browning: To ask Her Majesty's Government what evidence-based guidance is provided to hospitals precluding the attendance of relatives and visitors during meal times in wards.

Earl Howe: There is no guidance given to hospitals to preclude the attendance of relatives and visitors at meal times. Indeed, people who have close relationships with patients could be the right people, with a proper understanding of the patient's needs, to help someone with their nutritional intake.
	However, it is necessary that relatives and visitors appreciate the importance of protected meal times. Meal times are an important part of the care of patients and enable focus to be placed on maintaining their hydration and nutritional needs. Many hospitals have introduced protected meal times (commonly lunchtimes) so that nurses, carers and others can give an emphasis on helping patients to eat and drink.
	National Health Service hospitals are required to comply with quality standards, enforced by the Care Quality Commission, that protect people from the risks of dehydration and inadequate nutrition. The catering of hospital food to patients is a matter for local determination. Most hospital wards now operate a protected meal times policy so that patient nutrition, and the provision and consumption of food, is given a high priority within the routine of the day.
	To support hospitals in developing policies and procedures to provide meal times for patients, a range of best practice guidance and resources have been published. This includes that produced by the National Patient Safety Agency guidance, in 2008, on the protection of meal times. Food and drink is also one of the 12 areas of practice within the Essence of Care benchmarking system, which covers all aspects of fundamental care. This looks at screening and assessment of nutritional risk on initial contact, such as admission to hospital.
	Moving forward, the Secretary of State has announced a new initiative on improving hospital food. This will include a strand on encouraging the NHS to adopt the Government Buying Standards for Food, promoting sustainable purchasing and provision of healthy food. In April 2013, we will also be introducing a new system of patient-led assessments, which will replace the existing patient environment action team inspections and will cover themes including the quality of hospital food in hospitals providing NHS funded care.
	Regardless of the approach taken, it is of foremost importance that nursing leadership provides strong direction on wards and ensures that meal times are calm and uninterrupted and support the well-being of patients.

Heseltine Review

Lord Dykes: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to promote growth in the light of Lord Heseltine's review No Stone Unturned in Pursuit of Growth.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Lord Heseltine's independent report reflects his vast experience of government and business and makes a welcome contribution to the policy discussion over how government continue to deliver economic growth. It raises a number of important and issues that impact on the Government's ability to interact effectively with business throughout the country. Government will consider their recommendations carefully and will respond around the Autumn Statement

Heseltine Review

Lord Rooker: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consider seconding people with direct experience of the manufacturing sector to the Civil Service in order to guide the implementation of Lord Heseltine's review No Stone Unturned in Pursuit of Growth.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the direct experience of work in the manufacturing sector of each Minister involved in the assessment and implementation of Lord Heseltine's review No Stone Unturned in Pursuit of Growth.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Lord Heseltine's independent report reflects his vast experience of government and business and makes a welcome contribution to the policy discussion over how government continue to deliver economic growth. In support of our approach to industrial strategy, BIS is currently bringing in industry secondees to help develop sector strategies as well as working with the relevant sector through the industry councils.
	Many of the report's recommendations are of a cross-cutting nature; therefore all ministerial departments will have a role in assessing the value of the various proposals between now and the Autumn Statement when Government will look to respond. An implementation plan will be prepared following the Autumn Statement.

Higher Education: Overseas Students

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of (1) European Union, and (2) non-European Union, immigrant undergraduate and postgraduate students entering United Kingdom universities in the academic years starting in 2011 and 2012.

Baroness Garden of Frognal: The number of EU and non-EU domiciled entrants to UK higher education institutions by level of study in the academic year 2010-11 is shown in the table; this is the latest year for which data are available.
	Information for the 2011-12 academic year will become available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency in January 2013, and for the 2012-13 academic year in January 2014.
	
		
			 Entrants (1) by level of study and country of domicile (2) 
			 UK higher education institutions 
			 Academic year 2010-11 
			 Country of domicile Postgraduate Undergraduate Total 
			 UK 200,875 705,385 906,260 
			 Other EU 29,390 36,095 65,485 
			 Non-EU 105,195 69,030 174,225 
		
	
	Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record.
	Notes: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded up or down to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals.
	(1) Covers students in their first year of study entering both full-time and part-time courses.
	(2) Domicile refers to a student's permanent or home address prior to entry to their course.

Higher Education: Overseas Students

Lord Turnberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of (1) European Union, and (2) non-European Union, students staying in the United Kingdom beyond the period of their university course.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government do not produce estimates of the numbers of European Union students staying in the United Kingdom beyond the period of their university course. There is also no single source of data for the number of non-EU students staying after their university course.
	Home Office research in 2010-The Migrant Journey, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House-recorded that 21% of non-European Economic Area international students who entered in 2004 were still in the UK five years later.
	More recent statistics show that in the year to June 2012 over 93,000 international students already in the UK were granted an extension of stay to prolong their studies and 47,000 visa extensions of stay were granted to post-study workers-ie to international graduates who wanted to stay on in the UK to look for work. This gives an indication of the numbers choosing to stay in the UK beyond the end of their initial course.
	These figures will include both university and non-university students and are available at: www.homeoffice. gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/

House of Lords: Appointments

Lord Grocott: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Strathclyde on 25 October (WA 76), why the Answer given did not address the matter of the number of Peers required to be appointed to each political party to ensure that the composition of the House of Lords reflects the share of votes secured by each party at the most recent general election; and whether they will now answer that question.

Lord Strathclyde: It is for the Prime Minister of the day to determine the number of nominations to be made by individual political parties for life peerages. The UK Parliament website includes a full list of Members of the House of Lords, alongside their political party affiliation. In addition, the Electoral Commission website provides a breakdown of the share of votes by political parties in the general election of May 2010.

Human Rights

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to implement the United Nations guiding principles on business and human rights.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The British Government have been working over the past year to develop a business and human rights strategy for the UK based on the UN guiding principles. The Government's draft strategy is currently going through a final round of consultation across Whitehall and we hope to publish it in the near future.

Immigration

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they forecast that net immigration will meet their target of 100,000 per year by 2015.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The Government do not make official forecasts of net migration. The Office for National Statistics publishes projections but these are based on historic trends and take no account of planned policy interventions.
	The latest net migration figures show a fall from 252,000 in 2010 to 216,000 in 2011.
	In just over two years this Government have reformed all major routes of entry to the UK for non-EEA migrants. We expect net migration to fall as a result of these measures.

Internet: Broadband

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty's Government on what basis they will locate sites for new telephone masts in rural areas without access to fixed lines or wireless broadband.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: Site selection will be undertaken in conjunction with the mobile network operators and the mobile infrastructure project provider, once in place. The provider will prepare a radio plan, putting forward sites which provide optimal coverage of "not spots" from a technical perspective. These sites will then be assessed against the number of people living and working within the "not spots" they cover and the cost of building and operating them. This will allow the objective selection of sites which provide the best value for money to the project.

Israel and Palestine

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel concerning the death of Fahmi Abu Riash on 10 September.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The UK remains concerned about the situation in Gaza and the recent escalation of violence in southern Israel and Gaza.
	We are aware of reports of the incident concerning Fahmi Abu Riash. We have not raised this specific incident with the Israeli authorities but continue to monitor developments in Gaza closely and to raise our concerns as appropriate. We respect Israel's right to protect its security but believe it is vital to avoid civilian casualties.

Israel and Palestine

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the inclusion of Palestinian refugees in efforts to establish peace in Israel and Palestine; and what discussions they have had with others regarding this matter.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The British Government have been clear that a fair settlement for refugees must be part of a negotiated two-state solution resulting in a secure and universally recognised Israel living alongside a sovereign and viable Palestinian state, based on the borders of 1967, with Jerusalem the future capital of both states.
	We want to see a long-term and sustainable solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees agreed as soon as possible. But our assessment is that this can only be done through a negotiated two-state solution. We have urged both sides to demonstrate the political will and leadership needed to break the current impasse. We have not had any recent discussions with others regarding the inclusion of refugees in these efforts.

Manganese Bronze

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assist Manganese Bronze.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Jobcentre Plus and the Pension Service (both part of the Department for Work and Pensions), along with a training provider contracted by the Skills Funding Agency, are on site providing direct advice and assistance to members of the workforce. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP are working closely with local partners to ensure all potential support for workers is utilised.
	The Government cannot intervene directly in the administration process, but we stand ready to engage where possible once a way forward is identified.
	The Government are also providing support for the wider economy of Coventry and Warwickshire and the West Midlands to support key sectors and rebalance the economy. Ministers have recently announced plans to invest £124 million in the West Midlands area via round 3 of the regional growth fund (RGF). This comes on top of funding already committed to the region in previous rounds of the RGF, including £25 million to support advanced manufacturing suppliers. The funding will support a range of projects driving growth and job creation; including in the automotive sector.

National Policing Improvement Agency

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial and other benefits they estimate will be obtained from the abolition of the National Policing Improvement Agency and the move to the proposed new arrangements including the new College of Policing.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: Since 2010-11 the Government have reduced the cost of the National Policing Improvement Agency and its functions by over £50 million from £386 million in 2010-11 to £331 million by the end of the spending review.
	The College of Policing will:
	focus exclusively on the professionalism of the police;be governed in the interest of the public through a board which includes independent and the police and crime commissioner members;operate in the professional interest through the active engagement of officers and staff at all levels; and ensure national standards for police professionalism which are based on evidence of what works.
	In addition, the College of Policing will contribute to the drive to cut unnecessary bureaucracy in the police and will ensure police officers and police staff have the right skills to make the right decisions.

NHS: Clinical Commissioning Groups

Lord Bradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many shadow clinical commissioning groups have been established in Greater Manchester; and how many of those have appointed a general practitioner as the shadow chief accountable officer.

Earl Howe: There are currently 12 prospective clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in the Greater Manchester area. An aspirant CCG must nominate an accountable officer at the time of applying to the NHS Commissioning Board (the board) for establishment and authorisation. The accountable officer will be confirmed during this process and formally appointed following the board's final decision on authorisation. As these decisions have yet to be taken, the board is unable to confirm the background of accountable officers of aspirant CCGs in Greater Manchester.

NHS: GP Practice Registration

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 25 October (WA 77-8), why no charges are currently made for use of general practitioner services in England by registered patients who are foreign nationals.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 5 October (WA 77-8), whether the review on charging overseas visitors for NHS care will consider the registration with general practitioners of European Union nationals who are residing in the United Kingdom, and the registration of the nationality and immigration status of all people registering with a general practitioner.

Earl Howe: Since the foundation of the National Health Service, accessing NHS primary medical care has been open to any patient in the United Kingdom. Provision exists within primary legislation to allow the introduction of a system of NHS charges covering treatment for general practitioner services. As part of the department's review of charging for overseas visitors for NHS care, consideration is being given on whether to extend charging for NHS treatment to primary care. No decision has yet been taken on any option and this will also be subject to consultation across a number of related matters.

Nigeria

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last discussed the role of Boko Haram in Nigeria with the Government of Nigeria; and what is their assessment of alleged links and connections between Boko Haram and groups or individuals in the United Kingdom.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: We regularly discuss the threat posed by terrorist groups including Boko Haram with the Government of Nigeria at both official and ministerial level. Most recently our acting high commissioner raised the threat posed by Boko Haram and affiliated groups with a senior Nigerian official in early October.
	In relation to any presence of the organisation in the UK, it is a long-standing British Government policy not to comment on intelligence matters.

Overseas Aid

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial assistance was given by the United Kingdom to each of the sub-Saharan African nations over the last three years, including United Kingdom moneys designated to specific countries through international organisations.

Baroness Northover: Details of the United Kingdom's aid expenditure in each sub-Saharan African country are published in "Statistics on International Development" (SID), which is available in the House Library or online at: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-us/How-we-measure-progress/Aid-Statistics/.
	Table 14.1 of SID reports DfID bilateral aid to Africa broken down by aid type-eg bilateral aid channelled through a multilateral organisation. It can be found at: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Documents/publicationsl/sid2011/Table%2014.1%20-%20Africa_P1.xls
	This table also shows estimates of the UK's share of spending by multilateral organisations in Africa. This is an estimate of where the UK's core contributions to multilateral organisation is spent; the spending reported by multilateral organisations is used to calculate what proportion of UK spending is spent in each country.
	Details of total other government departments' aid expenditure to Africa can also be found in this table, but it is not broken down by aid type; DfID does not systematically report this data. The relevant government department should be contacted for this information.

Overseas Aid

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty's Government how the total financial assistance given by the United Kingdom to sub-Saharan Africa over the past three years was distributed between direct United Kingdom assistance and that channelled through international organisations.

Baroness Northover: Details of the United Kingdom's aid expenditure to sub-Saharan African country are published in "Statistics on International Development" (SID), which is available in the House Library or online at: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/About-us/How-we-measure-progress/Aid-Statistics/.
	Table 14.1 of SID reports DfID bilateral aid expenditure in Africa broken down by aid type including direct financial aid and bilateral aid channelled through multilateral organisations. It can be found at: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Documents/publicationsl/sid2011/Table%2014.1%20-%20Africa_Pl.xls.
	This table also shows estimates of the UK's share of spending by multilateral organisations in Africa. This is an estimate of where the UK's core contributions to multilateral organisations are spent; the spending reported by multilateral organisations is used to calculate what proportion of UK spending is spent in each country.
	Details of total other government departments' aid expenditure to Africa can also be found in this table, but it is not broken down by aid type; DfID does not systematically report this data. The relevant government department should be contacted for this information.

Questions for Written Answer

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 25 July (WA 169), why it took two months after tabling to answer Question for Written Answer HL307 on the elimination of the deficit in the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF); why they did not extrapolate the information sought from the Government Actuary's Department Valuation of the PCPF; and whether they will now answer those parts of the question on members' and employers' contributions where the information sought is not in the valuation report.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Further to my Answer of 25 July (WA 169), chapter 8 of the Government Actuary's Department's report on the Parliamentary Contributory Fund Valuation (PCPF) (which can be found at http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc1012/hc19/1907/1907.pdf) examined the funding level of the PCPF and concluded that the fund continued to be in deficit and required an Exchequer contribution of 8.6% of pensionable pay for deficit reduction, effective from 1 April 2012. In accordance with the Funding Principles Consensus Statement for this valuation, a period of 15 years will be adopted to amortise any surplus or deficit. This level of Exchequer contribution for the deficit reduction will continue until the next actuarial valuation of the PCPF, when the deficit will be further reviewed. Previously, the deficit reduction of 8.5% was set by the Government Actuary's Department in the 2008 valuation of the Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund and was paid at that level for three financial years (2009-10 to 2011-12).
	The increase in member contributions in the Ministerial Pension Scheme, which forms part of the PCPF, has already been taken into account when setting the Exchequer contribution rate for member benefits of 20.4% of pensionable pay, rather than paying towards the deficit reduction. The valuation report also allows for any further member contribution increases in 2013-14 and 2014-15 to be taken in account, with the Exchequer contribution adjusted accordingly without having to wait for the next valuation.

Questions for Written Answer

Lord Jopling: To ask the Leader of the House, further to his Written Answer on 25 October (WA 79), what administrative changes have taken place to ensure that the oversight referred to which caused the late answering of Questions for Written Answer does not occur again.

Lord Strathclyde: Administrative arrangements have been put in place to ensure that delays in meeting internal deadlines are drawn to the attention of senior departmental officials at an earlier stage. This should reduce the likelihood of similar delays recurring.

Questions for Written Answer

Lord Jopling: To ask the Leader of the House, further to his Written Answer on 25 October (WA 79), whether the same administrative oversight referred to is the reason for the failure of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to answer HL2090, tabled on 25 July.

Lord Strathclyde: No, the delays are unrelated. HL 2090 was answered on 5 November (WA 180). I refer the noble Lord to my Written Answer to Baroness Gardner of Parkes on 6 November (WA 197).

Remembrance Ceremonies

Lord Kilclooney: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will be represented at the Remembrance Ceremony in Kyrenia to recognise the lives lost in Cyprus by United Kingdom servicemen.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: On Remembrance Sunday our high commissioner to Cyprus will lay a wreath at the ceremony at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Wayne's Keep where these servicemen are buried. The British Government will not be represented at the remembrance ceremony in Kyrenia.

Sri Lanka

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission in Sri Lanka.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my honourable friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Mr Burt), delivered a Written Ministerial Statement on 12 January (Official Report, col. 20-21WS) to give our views on the Sri Lankan Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission's (LLRC) report.
	In July the Sri Lankan Government released an LLRC action plan containing a number of steps which, if implemented, would usefully address some of the LLRC recommendations. We now look to the Sri Lankan Government to implement the action plan and to take the further action on reconciliation, accountability and political settlement, as set out in the March 2012 Human Rights Council resolution.

Trees: Chalara Fraxinea

Lord Willoughby de Broke: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was first informed of the possibility that ash dieback fungus might be introduced into the United Kingdom.

Lord De Mauley: Chalara fraxinea was first confirmed in the UK on 7 March 2012, following investigation on 20 February 2012 of suspect symptoms at a nursery in Buckinghamshire by the Food and Environment Research Agency's Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate. Ministers were first informed of the finding on 3 April 2012.

World Trade Organisation: Customs Tariffs

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty's Government which countries, under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation, have agreed to hold their customs tariffs at their existing levels; in what legal form those agreements are set out; in which courts they are justiciable; and when they came into force.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: No countries have specifically agreed to hold 100% of their customs tariffs at existing levels. All WTO members make market access commitments which are listed in documents called "schedules of concessions", which represent commitments not to apply tariffs above the listed rates-these rates are "bound". For developed countries, the bound rates are generally the rates actually charged. Most developing countries have bound the rates somewhat higher than the actual rates charged, so the bound rates serve as ceilings.
	All 158 WTO Members have a schedule of concessions which is either annexed to the Marrakesh protocol, to the GATT 1994 or to a protocol of accession. All the individual member schedules and the dates when they came into force can be accessed via the WTO public website.
	If a member fails to abide by the commitments in their schedule of concessions they may be challenged under the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism.